Keep Your Eyes Open
by TreeBranchPixies200
Summary: Marauder Era- They were sick of the Marauders running the school. It was time for someone to step up and challenge them. Well, these girls will give them a run for their money. You better keep your eyes open Marauders because The Girls have come to play the game and they're looking to win! A little OOC. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Prologue

**I have decided to delete my other story, it had no plot and I didn't have very much inspiration. However I am excited about this one. Please leave a review, it's much appreciated. This chapter is short just to get the ball rolling. Enjoy! :)**

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Prologue

Lily Evans sat in the centre of her four poster bed and sighed. She had closed the curtains to block the incessant babble coming from the other side of the thick fabric. The high-pitched jabber came from the group of gossiping, shallow bimbos she shared a dorm with. And of course, the constant chatter was about none other than the famous Marauders, dubbed The Extraordinary Pranksters of Hogwarts. To Lily however, they were The Most Infuriating Arseholes that had ever walked the hall of Hogwarts.

Lily was not very well-liked within her house: all the girls were jealous that _the _James Potter 'Head of the Marauders' had been chasing after her since fourth year, all the while she vehemently refused him. Lily was now drawing towards the end of her fifth year and only had one more day of OWL's left. Remembering this, she settled down in her comfy bed but not before forgetting to put a silencing charm around her bed so she could not hear the conversation _still _going on outside the comfort of her warm sheets.

* * *

**(Dream)**

_Lily was walking by the Black Lake; it was just beginning to get dark and the wind was picking up. The water reflected the brilliant light coming from the full moon; it rippled as she dipped in a pale toe testing the temperature. The water was cold and Lily watched as her foot slowly turned blue. "Lily, what are you doing? Are you trying to get frostbite?" A voice chuckled from behind her. Lily was startled; she hadn't known there was anyone there with her. Quickly spinning around, she saw an unfamiliar face staring at her. "Lils, what are you doing out here really? It's not like you to be out of bed after hours. Is something bothering you?" Lily was very confused now, she had only seen this girl once before and was sure that she was in a different house, Slytherin maybe. What confused her most though was why this girl seemed so concerned about someone she didn't know. Despite her inner turmoil, she answered. It seemed she was very familiar with the person. _

"_Don't worry Sab, I was just thinking."_

"_Thinking about what Lils, what is it?"_

"_I was thinking about Sev-" her voice cracked as a lone tear slid down her cheek. "Did you know that we were best friends? You wouldn't know now, I first met him when we were nine years old. He taught me about the magical world, he didn't think I was a freak like my sister did. He thought I was special and he told me so too. But then we started to drift apart when he started to hang around with Mulciber and Avery. I could tell they were changing him; they started tainting his mind with their opinions on blood status. I knew what they thought of me, it was obvious. But he promised me Sab, he promised that my blood status didn't matter to him. But then he had to go and call me _that _in front of everybody." Her eyes dripped now, her cheeks were pink and her eyes tinted with red. She stared up at the large moon and thought of all the times her and Severus had lay on the grass by her house together staring up at the moon and stars. _

"_He's not worth your tears Lily, you're so much better than him. You're not afraid to stand up for what is right. I know you miss him, but that little boy you met that day, he's gone Lily. That's not him anymore, he's changed and so have you. You have us now, and we don't care about your blood status or who your parents are. We love you for who you are and who you have become." Lily turned her head to look at the girl who she knew she depended on and trusted with her life. _

"_Thanks Sab. I don't know what I'd you without you or the others." They lay down on the soft grass by the lake and stared up at the sky each lost in their own thoughts. Lily could feel her eyelids getting heavy and starting to droop. Just before her eyes closed and she fell asleep, she looked at the moon; something niggled at the back of her brain. She knew there was something very important she should've remembered but she was just too tired, so she let the darkness seep into her mind as she fell asleep. _

**Thanks for reading, please tell me what you thought :) **


	2. Chapter 1

**Enjoy! **

**Later on is the 'Snape's Worst Memory' scene. J. 's words are in italics. Sorry for any mistakes made!**

**WARNING: MENTIONS OF ABUSE AND ABANDONMENT**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter, all rights belong to J. .**

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Chapter One

BEEP – BEEP – BEEP

The infuriating sound of her muggle alarm clock filled her mind and jolted her from a dream she couldn't remember in very much detail. She could faintly remember that she was lying on the grass beside the black lake with someone.

She shook her head and groaned as she removed her legs from the warmth under the covers.

As she did every morning, Lily had woken up before the rest of her dorm mates, they took _ages _in the shower and if she didn't wake up first, Lily knew they'd make sure she was last.

Lily poked her head through the gap in her curtains and checked that she had not woken up any of the other girls in her dorm. Sighing, she silently slipped out of bed and padded towards the bathroom.

After her shower, Lily came out of the bathroom and found herself face to face with Celia Simmons, ring leader of the Marauder fan club as well as a resident in Lily's dorm. "What took you so long, Evans," Celia had adopted the name after she heard the Marauders calling her that, and from then on it had stuck, "you know it's always my turn first in the shower."

"Sorry Celia, I didn't think you'd be awake yet." Lily mumbled. She hated that she sounded so weak.

Lily could feel the glares from Celia's followers penetrating the back of her skull. She quickly dressed and scurried out of the dorm. Lily hurried down the stairs and away from her dorm mates.

Sometimes Lily wished she had a friend other than Severus. Severus was her best friend of course, but she did want a friend that she could talk to about _girl_ stuff with or a friend who wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with her. Lily had started to notice that Severus was becoming distant; she blamed his friends Mulciber and Avery. They weren't a good influence on him, she knew that but what could she do.

Lily clambered out of the portrait hole and into the hallway. She began to prepare herself for the upcoming OWL she had that day. It was her last one, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Although she was nervous she knew that she would be able to get at least an E.

DADA wasn't her best subject like Charms or Potions were but it was up there near the top of the list.

As Lily made her way to the Great Hall she recited the information from her textbook in her head, she the textbook definitions word for word.

Lily was so caught up in her revision she failed to notice the person that had just come down from the Ravenclaw tower and stumbled right into a warm body, the impact left her on the floor.

"Oh I'm so sorry; I wasn't looking where I was going! I guess I was just a bit caught up in revising…" Lily stopped when she realised she was babbling. "Here, let me help you up."

Lily held out her hand to the girl she had crashed into.

As she helped her up, Lily took a good look at her. The girl had shoulder length brown hair that framed a heart shaped face. Her eyes were the colour of melted chocolate and her lips were turned up at the corners in a big smile. The girl grabbed her hand and pushed herself up off the floor. "Thanks, I'm Hestia by the way."

"I'm Lily, I'm really sorry for knocking you over," Lily mumbled, she was angry at herself yet again for sounding so feeble. She prepared herself for the inevitable shouting at or the insults that would be thrown her way, however she was presently surprised.

"Hey, no harm no foul, right. It doesn't matter; I should have looked where I was going or maybe moved out of your way. You looked like a woman on a mission," Hestia smirked.

Surprisingly, Lily found herself smirking back. "Anyway, do you want to continue your mission or you okay coming with me to breakfast?" Lily was stunned, this had never happened to her before. She was a little geeky girl who no one paid any attention to, but here was a confident, beautiful person who hadn't immediately dismissed her and told her to go away.

Lily nodded eagerly and hurried after the mysterious girl who she had managed to so clumsily knock over.

Hestia smirked again when she heard the sound of Lily huffing and puffing behind her to try and catch up. Hestia had always had long legs and never wanted to do anything slowly, but she considered this a special case and slowed her pace allowing Lily to catch up.

When the short red-headed girl finally caught up neither of them said anything although the silence wasn't awkward. Lily was deep in thought. She wandered why anyone was even approaching her, everyone hated her after all.

She was the girl who had a Marauder chasing after when no one even understood why. She was an introvert person, other than when she was screaming at a certain Marauder of course, she also very antisocial, rarely interacting with other people and always reading.

Lily was pulled from her thoughts as Hestia announced, "Well, we're here! I guess I'll see you around Lily. Feel free to bump into me any time you want," she was smirking again.

Lily surprised at herself could feel her mouth returning the smirk, "I'll be sure to." Hestia chuckled and began to move towards the Ravenclaw table but not before turning back and waving to the short, red-headed Gryffindor.

After turning back to her table, Lily realised that there happened to be a large amount of eyes on her, all burning with questions. Lily, not being very fond of that amount of attention hurried to a seat and plonked herself down.

She helped herself to food and tried but failed to keep the smile off her face. However, the smile soon turned to a frown as it dawned on her that she had another OWL today that she had completely forgotten about in the excitement of the possibility of another friend.

Lily gulped down her pumpkin juice and rushed out of the Great Hall reciting her knowledge of the subject in her head as she had before.

* * *

"Please stop writing and put down your quills."

Lily set down her quill and sighed; she thought the paper had gone well. She had known all of the answers and grimaced inwardly as she was reminded of the fact that the only reason she had known all the answers was because she revised so much, and that was only because she had no friends to spend the time with.

Lily leaned away from her desk and began to pack up her things. She was eager to get out into the rare sun and wanted to catch up with Severus, she hadn't seen him in two days and while she wasn't worried she did want to talk to him.

Lily filtered out of the Great Hall along with everyone else trying not to get knocked over by the hordes of people also trying to get out.

The sun beat down on the grounds of Hogwarts, its rays kissing the skin of the cheering fifth years. Of course all the excitement came from the fact that OWL's were all over and there was a week now of lounging around, passing notes in classes and knowing that although it was given, homework would not have to be completed.

Lily weaved in and out of the rejoicing crowds and went to settle herself beneath the shade of an old tree. She pulled out her favourite book 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen, Lily became lost in the word of the Bennet sister and the proud, brooding Mr Darcy.

Lily shivered as a chilly wind caressed her arms. Looking up from her book she noticed something strange. A large crowd had formed around the large beech tree near the edge of the lake.

Lily could hear the cracking sound that signalled a duel. She quickly put down her book and stood up. Lily, being a prefect knew it was her duty to stop such things and pushed her way through the throngs of people.

To Lily's absolute disgust she found Potter and Black taunting Severus. His wand was lying a few feet away and the other two were slowly advancing.

"_Leave him ALONE!" _She screamed with so much venom in her voice that some people stepped back in shock. However if James Potter noticed, he didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

"_Alright Evans?" _Potter ran his hand through that stupid hair of his again and Lily fought the urge to smack it away.

"_Leave him alone. What's he done to you?" _Lily asked coolly her eyes flashing. She knew lots of people were watching and usually she would shy away from the attention. However, Lily was nothing if not loyal, these prats were messing with her best friend and in that moment she didn't care what people thought of her.

With the next words that came from Potter's mouth almost had Lily growling. _"Well, it's more the fact that he exists if you know what I mean." _Everyone laughed. Black even had the audacity to give Potter a high five.

"_You think you're funny, but you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone." _Her tone was cold, like ice, maybe even colder than ice. Lily even surprised herself at the frostiness but she knew she couldn't back down now.

"_I will if you go out with me, Evans. Go on… go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again." _This of course started a few more whispers of disbelief, but Lily couldn't care less about them right now. This was between her and Potter.

And then of course came the single action that annoyed Lily most in the world. Potter ran a hand through his already messy black hair. Behind him Lily spotted Severus slowly crawling towards his wand, spitting out soap bubbles as he went.

"_I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid." _Lily sneered; the expression was foreign to her but thought it was completely justified given the situation.

"_Bad luck, Prongs," _Black must have noticed Severus moving finally because he let out a large, _"OI!"_

Despite Sirius' attempt at a warning, it was too late. Severus had his wand back and had pointed it at James. Lily watched in horror.

She saw the flash of light. She saw James' face contorting in pain and horror. She saw the large gash form on his cheek. She saw the blood dripping down his face to the ground. She saw James turning and pulling out his wand. Another flash of light and she saw Severus hanging upside-down in the air.

Lily, unfortunately could not keep the ghost of a smile from playing on her lips as she took in the spindly legs of Severus and his off-white underwear. All of a sudden, the smile was gone. You weren't able to tell if it had ever been there in the first place. It had been replaced by a look of pure fury.

"_Let him down!" _Lily screamed; everyone stopped laughing immediately as they watched the furious red-headed girl warily.

"_Certainly," _In an instant, Severus was lying on the floor in a tangle of legs and robes. However, he was quickly on his feet with his wand pointed. Black was of course prepared with yet another spell ready at his disposal.

"_Petrificus Totalus!" _Snape was once more lying on the floor.

That was the last straw for Lily, she had enough. They had hexed her best friend as well as publically humiliating him.

"_LEAVE HIM ALONE!" _Lily screeched her own wand was drawn now.

"_Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you."_

"_Take the curse off him then." _She was still shaking with anger.

Obviously against his will, James mumbled the counter-curse. _"There you go." _James turned to Severus as he stood up. _"You're lucky Evans was her, Snivellus -"_

"_I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" _

Lily froze. He had promised that her blood-status didn't matter to him. He promised he would never say that to her. She blinked willing herself not to cry. _Don't cry_, she thought furiously.

"_Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus." _Lily was surprised she'd managed to keep her voice level. On the inside she was crying and screaming. She knew that in that moment she had lost her best friend, her _only _friend, her introducer to magic.

While these thoughts raged around in her head she faintly heard Potter yelling at Sev- no Snape and telling him to apologise.

If she thought she was mad before she had finally fallen over the edge now.

"_I don't want _you _to make him apologise," _she all but screamed as she turned to James, _"You're just as bad as he is."_

"_What?" _James questioned in an affronted tone. _"I'd NEVER call you a – you-know-what!"_

"_Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you because you can – I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK." _

With that Lily turned and started to run, no longer able to keep the tears back. They streamed down her face in waves. She ran blindly and only paused when she was out of sight of the prying eyes of the stunned crowd.

She ran her back down the wall as she completely broke down. She had known Severus since she was nine years old and he had promised, sworn even that he would never call her that awful word.

But he broke his promise; she should have seen it coming really.

He had started avoiding her and was embarrassed to be seen with her. When they were together he always managed to give negative input to any conversation. He was no longer the caring, thoughtful boy she first met, but Lily couldn't seem to let go of that image.

She had no idea how long she sat there.

The tears had long since dried, leaving her eyes puffy and red. Her limbs were cold and stiff and her stomach was empty and rumbling. But still she sat there staring at nothing.

"Honey, are you alright?" Something registered at the back of Lily's mind. She heard the voice and talking to her and had recognised it, however she just couldn't place it. "Come on, you'll freeze to death if you stay out here."

Lily didn't move her gaze from the point of nothing she was staring at.

"Honey, can you hear me? Just nod if you can hear me." The voice was there again. Lily had nothing else to do, so she did just what the voice told her and nodded.

"There you go, can you stand up? You're really cold. I bet you're hungry too. Are you hungry?"

Lily nodded again.

"Honey, look at me."

Lily obeyed.

She found herself staring into large grey eyes that held a look of understanding and something else that Lily couldn't quite put her finger on. She had an oval face with a small sharp nose and a dainty full moth. Her face was framed with a few strands falling from the messy inky black bun piled on top of her head. She was very beautiful.

"Do you want to come to the kitchens with me? Dinner has finished but you need to eat. Come on, up you get." Lily stood stoically.

"Thank you," it came out a broken whisper but the girl definitely heard it.

"It's alright honey, I was worried. I saw what happened earlier and I didn't see you come to dinner so I came out to look for you."

This surprised Lily. No one paid attention to her, she only had one friend, _none now_, she thought to herself bitterly.

In everyone's eyes Lily Evans was a 'geeky freak' that you didn't want to interact with.

However, twice in the same day, Lily had talked to people who weren't scared it would ruin their reputation or take them down a notch on the social ladder.

"Everyone's talking about it aren't they?"

"What the whole deal with you and Snape?" Lily gave a small nod. "Yup." She didn't elaborate or ask her anything about it, she just left her to her own thoughts which Lily was grateful for.

Suddenly Lily realised something.

"Hey! I don't know your name."

The mysterious girl shook her head and chuckled.

"I was wondering when you'd remember. I'm Sabrina Oragon, Slytherin House, Half-Blood."

"So, you're in the same house as Sev– Snape then?"

"Yep, him and all the other mini-deatheaters." Although it hurt Lily to hear that, it just confirmed what she already knew. Severus was turning bad.

"Why did you come and find me?" Lily asked rather abruptly, she was being rude but she needed to know the answer.

Sabrina started down the steps that if you went on, would lead to the Hufflepuff basement. Lily quickly followed; her stomach was aching from her quick breakfast and lack of lunch.

Lily knew she was ignoring the question but decided she would leave it until later if the girl didn't want to answer.

Sabrina suddenly stopped in front of a large portrait of a fruit bowl. Lily, who had never been to the kitchens before, watched in amazement as Sabrina tickled the pear which then grew and turned into a door knob.

Sabrina turned around and giggled at the look of absolute wonder on her face.

"You've never been to the kitchens before have you?"

Lily shook her head, eyes still wide.

"Well, I guess I didn't know where they were and no exactly wanted to take me." Lily said, truthfully.

Sabrina, enjoying the look on Lily's face decided to make it even more grandiose.

Sabrina bowed and swung open the door.

"Madam, I present to you, The Kitchens!"

Lily snorted and followed her through the doorway. She stopped and looked around in awe of her surroundings.

The place was huge, around the same size as the Great Hall above with the same layout of five large tables that would usually seat the four different houses and the teachers. At the other end of the room Lily could see a large brick fire place.

Suddenly there was a loud _POP _and in front of them stood a small, sweet looking house elf. "Hey Misty," said Sabrina cheerfully. Lily was yet again surprised; Slytherin's were usually very prejudiced against house elves amongst other things, thinking they were above them. However, this girl never ceased to surprise her. Lily was, after all, a muggle born Gryffindor and here was a Slytherin. There had not yet been any snide comments or disagreements of any kind.

"Good evening Miss Oragon," replied the house elf, Misty, in an equally cheery tone, and bowed deeply.

Sabrina smiled.

"I don't know how many times I've told you now. Call me Sabrina."

"Of course, sorry Miss Sabrina."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Misty, this is Lily. Is it alright if she can have something to eat? You see, she missed the feast and is quite hungry."

"Of course Miss Lily, what would you like to eat?"

Lily thought about it, food was a very important part of Lily's life and the result of that was a slight chub around her tummy. She thought about her small house in Cokeworth and the pancakes her mother would cook, with the smell that would fill the whole house, when she was feeling upset. Having made up her mind, Lily grinned at Misty.

"Could I have some pancakes please, with maple syrup?"

"Of course Miss Lily, that will be about two minutes."

"Thank you so much Misty, I hope this won't cause any trouble. I really appreciate it."

With a crack of her fingers, Misty vanished from sight, although the girls were sure that before she disappeared she had been muttering something like, "_Oh, I like her. So polite and friendly, better than my old masters."_

"Come on, let's grab a seat." Lily followed Sabrina over to what would have been the Slytherin table above them in the Great Hall.

Once they were seated Sabrina could feel Lily's eyes studying her. She could tell that Lily was itching with questions so she decided it was time to answer them.

"Okay, what do you want to ask?"

Lily looked quite taken aback that she had been caught and quickly lowered her eyes to the table.

"Well, I guess I was just curious. Why did you come to look for me? You had never met before and you had no obligation to come and look for me, so why would you?"

Sabrina studied her for a long minute.

"I came to look for you because I know how it feels. I know how it feels for someone so close to you to reject you because of something you can't change. My family rejected me.

My mother had an affair with a muggle while she was married to a rich and powerful wizard from the 'Noble House of Black'," she sneered at the name, "when he found out that the baby wasn't his, he started to hit my mother, saying she was unfaithful and ungrateful for all the things he had done for her.

When I was born, I was a constant reminder of the muggle lover, my father and it was too much for her husband.

He tried to abandon me but my mother rescued me, she knew that he would soon start hitting me and didn't want that life for me. So she ended up putting me in a wizarding orphanage and I never saw her again, but I was told by one of the matrons at the orphanage that she had been found dead after her husband had beaten her to death.

The orphanage took me to the house of Walburga and Orion Black and tried to get them to adopt me. They were family. They, of course, decided that I wasn't worthy of the name of Black because I was the result of an affair and a half blood.

So yeah, I know how it feels to be rejected at every turn, to be told you are a mistake, to be told you aren't worth it because your mother's husband was aggressive and abusive. Of course, he is now a follower of Lord Voldemort," Sabrina ended bitterly.

Sabrina stopped and sucked in a large breath; she had never told anyone that.

She had surprised herself when she had opened up to a girl she had met barely an hour ago. Sabrina was even more surprised however to find that said girl was sitting across from her on the table, crying her eyes out.

Lily sat there dumbfounded. This girl had been through so much at such a young age and it upset Lily to the point of tears. Lily wasn't just crying for that though, she was aware that a girl whom she had never even spoken to before had decided to unload this information onto Lily, and for the first time in her life she felt trusted.

It wasn't the casual kind of trust, the keeping sweets safe or holding something for someone without walking off with it, no not that kind of trust. This was the kind where people told each other their hopes and dreams as well as their deepest, darkest secrets.

"Hey honey, why are you crying? I'm sorry; I wouldn't have told you if I'd known it would upset you," said Sabrina although she herself was trying to hold back tears while she mentally cursed herself.

It was at this point that Misty appeared with a pop and startled the two.  
"Here are your pancakes Miss Lily, Misty is sorry for the delay."

Lily took the pancakes with a bright smile, "Thank you very much Misty. There was no delay at all."

Misty bowed once more before disappearing with another pop.

Lily dug into her pancakes with a vengeance and Sabrina had to restrain her laughter that threatened to bubble through her lips, although her efforts were obviously not enough when an unladylike snort burst through the seams of her lips.

Lily looked up in surprise which did not help Sabrina's struggle when she saw a trail of maple syrup from the corner of Lily's mouth slowly making its way down her chin.

Lily just sat there in shock as Sabrina could no longer contain her laughter. It burst from her mouth in a series of short barks, wheezes, snorts and howls earning the couple a few strange looks from the house elves around the kitchen.

"You didn't upset me, of course you didn't. The story was very sad, so I did cry at that, but what made me cry the most was the fact you told me. You trusted me enough to tell me."

Sabrina raised an eyebrow in question and Lily launched into her explanation of the trust involved.

Lily and Sabrina decided it was time to go back. It was getting late and their curfew was soon and Lily, being a prefect, did not want to break the rules that she was supposed to uphold.

So they parted ways, Sabrina going down to the dungeons to join her fellow Slytherins while Lily travelled up staircases to reach the Gryffindor tower.

"Whomping Willow." The portrait hole swung open. Lily took a deep breath before stepping inside and braced herself for the stares and whispers she knew were to come.

She was right of course, everyone froze and those that had not noticed were quickly alerted by a jab to the side. Lily wasn't surprised either when Potter stood up from his place by the fire and walked towards her slowly opening his mouth to speak.

Lily got there first.

"Please don't Potter," she said softly and offered his a small smile, "I'm very tired and just want to go to bed. So please don't say anything, I don't know if I can take anymore. Goodnight I guess."

Everyone watched them; some had open mouths while some had wide eyes. Lily Evans and James Potter had just had a civil interaction without either one shouting at each other. Lily had even _smiled_.

The events of the day finally hit Lily like a tonne of bricks and she was astonished she didn't fall over. Lily was suddenly very tired.

She quickly changed into pyjamas and slipped into bed, drawing the curtains. Lily turned over and felt one lone tear make a slow track down her face. She promised herself that that would be the last time she would cry over Severus Snape.

Lily slipped into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
